Saturday, April 26, 2014

I have found a buyer for Carnivale. I'm both excited and sad to share this news with you, as it makes the closure of the sim solid reality. I'm pleased with the deal we've struck though, and I can tell you that it's going to a kind person who agreed to my terms and who is a fan of my work. The build will be cleared with the transfer, but it gives me comfort at least to know that it wasn't going to a a "Rockefellian" land baron.

The official date of the transfer is May 15th. On that day, Carnivale will be closed, moved and transferred to its new owner. In the meantime, I'd like to announce the Goodbye Carnivale Contest.

The rules are simple: take a picture or series of pictures on Carnivale. They can have a theme or not, they can be of people or not, but they have to showcase the build of Carnivale. The only other rule is nothing sexually explicit as the sim is rated G. Beyond that, your imagination is the only limit.

What's your favorite place on the sim? Where did you used to love to sit with your friends? Where did you like to be while you shopped in the marketplace or wandered the halls? Where is your favorite memory?

Submit them to the Illusions store group on Flickr. I will be judging the pictures on May 15th, and awarding prizes of Angel Cards to my favorites. They'll range in value from 100L up to 1000L if something really blows me away!

On May 10th I will be throwing a Goodbye Carnivale party at 3pm SLT. Wear whatever you like, we'll be there to see the sim off in style.

I'm sad to bring this era of my Second Life to a close. But I'm excited to see what will happen in the next. Thank you for sharing this piece of my heart with me, and I hope you'll trust in me that I will make my new home even better.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Back in 2007, I had an honest to goodness patron of my work. An extremely wealthy fan who loved my masks, gave me commissions, and even bought a sim to give me free reign of. For a while I had fun on my
completely rent free section of Second Life and I delighted in running
rampant with it. However, after a year or so that patron left Second Life, and left me the sim. Since then, I've been paying upkeep that I can't really afford and
trying to use rentals in order to help out with the cost.

Things I've learned about myself are:

• I am too much of a softie with my friends to actually enforce rent
• I am too absent minded to keep track of who's renting when and for how
long or how much they've paid, even with a rental system
• I am too lazy to keep an entire full size sim up to date with a build that suits my vision for it

Simply put, I'm not getting $295 USD a month worth of value out of it,
and the pressure to do so is not something I want to deal with anymore.

After letting my friends know about this, the wonderful Kala Bijoux stepped up and offered me a place on her grandfathered tier sim called the Winged Isle. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take it, since I know I'm a bit of a control freak and I didn't want to step on her toes, but she has promised me full creative control and is even open to changing the name to fit our new vision of it. My new costs for maintaining my store would be a mere fraction of the former and I would still have control to manifest my imagination.

So Carnivale is officially for sale. I'm looking for someone who will pay the transfer cost of $100USD, or someone who might be interested in purchasing the sim with a custom build on it. If you're willing to buy my sim, I'm willing to build what you envision for it. Depending on the build the cost would vary, so I'd charge an hourly rate but you would have a build made by me from whatever concepts you provide.

The only other condition I would have to ask, aside from the fee of the transfer, would be simply that you help Surreal and I redirect our traffic via a sign left up at the teleport hub. Not forever, but hopefully for a couple of months to help with the upheaval. If those terms sound amenable to you please feel free to contact me via IM, email or notecard.

This probably won't be happening in an immediate time frame, more likely over a month or two, but you should take some time to enjoy the build on Carnivale while it's still there. Take a walk over the bridge, sit underneath the tree in the marketplace, maybe dance in the event hall. If I do find a buyer and set a date for the transfer, you can be sure there will be a party the night before!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

After the Luminous Masquerade I had some people asking whether or not I was going to sell the mask I gave out as a party favor. I usually don't, to keep the masks unique, but I really liked the shape so I decided to revisit it and turn it into a simpler, classic and versatile mask.

Alato means "winged" in Italian, but of course when I read it I keep reading "a lot o'" mask, heh. However, the name suits the shape. The points coming down the cheeks are flattering on both men and women, and I went for a soft, gritty metallic look with the texture, with muted colors.

This is actually the first mask I've made utilizing the specular and normal maps, and I love the detail and effect they add. My items from now on will be using them, so that's something to look forward to!

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What is Second Life?

Second Life is an online community set in a 3D, game-like environment. It allows everyone to create content, from clothing to buildings, whatever you can imagine. It's a versatile medium for artists, and a place to meet people and form communities. There are any number of places to explore, games to play, and things to be.